Who did the better coaching job?

[ShoogarBear]

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/images/photos/2007/06/13/f762fppa.jpg

Regular Season: 253-136, .650
Postseason: 26-25, .510

PROS:
-More seasons of excellence
-Didn't inherit a good team
-Maximized Nash's potential
-Players never turned against him
-Loved by media

CONS:
-Never got to Finals
-Lost to Mavs in WCF
-Lack of defense




http://theassociation.blogs.com/the_association/avery%20johnson.jpg

Regular Season: 194-70, .735
Postseason: 23-24, .489

PROS
-Introduced defense to a team that didn't play it
-Took a team to Finals
-Beat Suns and Spurs in playoffs

CONS
-Inherited an elite team
-Players may have turned against him

[urunobili]

GOOD THREAD :tu. IMHO AJ's job's is better because he showed he could change the mentality of a team to Defensive and proof is he has gotten far than D'Antoni in the playoffs that is when money counts...

[Shaolin-Style]

Avery

Phoenix had a ton of talent and still believes it possesses more talent on paper, whereas with the Mavs...you have Josh Howard inviting everyone for a party while the series is raging and undermining his coach.

[ShoogarBear]

I wonder if Spur Fan will be biased because in the playoffs they are 0-1 against Avery and 3-0 against D'Antoni.

[td4mvp21]

I voted D'Antoni. Good regular season and decent post season, at least compared to Avery. I think Avery is the smarter of the two, though.

[DespЏrado]

tough call...I think Avery has a fatal flaw, to rub players the wrong way, but I voted for him because he is without a doubt the more complete coach. Avery definetly sees both sides of the game and that gives him the edge as the better coach.

D'Antoni definitely has his strengths as an offensive guru, but it is a question of just how much he relied on Nash for that to be possible. Would D'Antoni be able to succeed in a system without a play maker like Nash?

[urunobili]

I wonder if Spur Fan will be biased because in the playoffs they are 0-1 against Avery and 3-0 against D'Antoni.

suns trolls will give D'Antoni a push i believe

[Mr.Bottomtooth]

Gotta go with D'Antoni. At least he was able to make the big trade and get it together before the playoffs. In their series, the Mavericks looked like they were still trying to mesh.

[Avitus1]

At least AJ took his team to the finals.

[SpurOutofTownFan]

If I look at the entire season + the playoffs I think D'Antoni was better - I didn't like the way Dallas fell apart. Players had problems with the coach and that can never be good. I also score on team chemistry - it's just another part of coaching.

[resistanze]

Avery defeated the Spurs in the playoffs (only time it's been done since WCSF 2004), and led his team out of the West, unlike D'Antoni.

Also, Choking in finals > Never getting to finals.

[remingtonbo2001]

Steve Nash did more coaching than D'Antoni.

Yelling Let's Go Go Go every other moment doesn't qualify as coaching, IMO.